Jon McKennedy Claims Speedway 51 Victory

Posted by Wayne G. Barber

Sometimes you have to travel far to find success. For Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford, MA the three hour haul to Speedway 51 in Groveton,NH is just what the Exit Reality sponsored team needed as they came away with the victory in the first visit for the Valenti Modified Racing Series to the fast, tight quarter mile speedway.

   "It turned out we had a really good car here, we rode in the third and fourth spot saving it and with thirty to go I decided to go but it was really tough. the track is narrow and was hard to pass". McKennedy said.

   Starting from the third row Mckennedy stayed within striking distance and eventually took the lead from hard charger Russ Hersey of Swanzey,NH on a lap 43 restart and five laps later gave up the number one position to Todd Patnode of Richmond,NH.

   McKennedy added, "A little before halfway I lost power steering and it was intermittent the whole race. To win with no power steering to be honest, I didn't think I could finish the race, to steer one of these cars with thirty inches of front rubber is hard."

Starting mid pack Todd Patnode seemed to be in constant battles for position, eventually picking off the leaders and muscling the lead  from McKennedy on lap 47. His lead would only last 6 laps before Hersey took over the top spot. Patnode's Swanzey Oil sponsored #24 was stout enough to finish in the runner up position following McKennedy across the stripe.

   "Were still trying to get a handle on this Troyer, we never ran a Troyer before and this is our third race with it" Patnode said. "That first caution (lap 20) gave us a chance to make some adjustments and we're starting to understand it." About the track he said, "It's a fun track, I like it, at first I thought it was going to be tight for racing but once the tires wore down there was plenty of room out there. I hope the fans enjoyed the show, it was fun being a part of it . About lap 50 I backed off a little trying to save it but still had to race wheel to wheel with Russ (Hersey) for a long time and that's always fun. But Jon (McKennedy) had us covered and congratulations to him." He also added, "Hats off to my crew, we threw this team together at the last minute and bought the car three weeks before our first race, again thanks to those guys".

   Veteran Mike Holdridge of Madison, CT is known for his cool, calculated approach to the modified battles and at Speedway 51 it was no different. Not being happy with his sleek, black #0 after practice and qualifier, the team made changes that ended up getting Mike a third place podium finish after the one hundred lap marathon.

   Holdridge said, "I conserved tires as long as I could, I feel lucky to get third. Jon had a perfect strategy and it worked for him. You have to save your stuff at tracks like this. I'm happy with third after the long tow, getting here late, lack of practice, and old age." He added, "It's a racey track but for me I liked the bottom, but after halfway it didn't matter, most guys faded back and I still tried to conserved my stuff. This sure makes for a better ride home."

   Defending VMRS champion Woody Pitkat of Sturbridge,MA started on the pole and lead from lap 2 to lap 22 but didn't have the right combination to challenge for the victory and finished forth while Rob Richardi Jr. of Easton,MA. turned in his finest performance in a modified to finish fifth.

   Sixth through tenth were Colbey Fournier, Mike Willis Jr., Russ Hersey, George Sherman, Branden Dion

This was the 16th career victory for McKennedy and his first win since Sept. 14, 2012

Jon McKennedy is a three time champion in this touring division from , 2009, 2010, 2012

This was race three in 2016 with 3 different winners, Chris15ct Chris Pasternak, Monadnock Speedway, #25 Rowan Pennink, Stafford Speedway, #29 Jon McKennedy, Speedway 51

Heat winners 52-Woody Pitkat,    15CT.-Chris Pasteryak

Summary

Track---Speedway 51,      0.250 mile    Groveton,NH. 

Race---VMRS NAPA Night 100

Time of Race---46:57.216

Cautions---(4)---laps 20---28---43---89

Margin of Victory---2.683

Best Lap Time---12.485

Best Lap By---88-Russ Hersey

Lap Leaders---(Lap 1, Willis Jr.)-(2-23, Pitkat) (24-43, Hersey)(44-47, McKennedy) (48-53, Patnode) (54-79, Hersey) (80-100 McKennedy)

1---29-Jon McKennedy

2---24- Todd Patnode

3---0-Mike Holdridge

4---52-Woody Pitkat

5---33-Rob Richardi Jr.

6---16-Colbey Fournier

7---38-Mike Willis Jr.

8---88-Russ Hersey

9---93-George Sherman

10-04-Brandon Dion

11-117-Donnie Lashua

12-22-Roy Seidell Jr.

13-17-Dylan Rock

14-15CT-Chris Pasteryak

15-50-Carl Medieros Jr.

16-77-Matthew Mead

17-14-Dana Smith

Next Race---June 4th---Seekonk Speedway-Seekonk,MA. 

Story by Jim Snape

photos by Simply the Best,  Crystal Snape